


The Toy That Guards Your Sleep

by Ragga



Series: The World That Is Not Ours [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, F/M, Gen, How Do I Tag, M/M, Pre-Slash, nothing really happens, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 14:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8848597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ragga/pseuds/Ragga
Summary: ”Are you sure?” Noah asked as he stared at the plush Claudia was holding. It was a rather scary-looking thing if he had to describe it with just one word. It was some sort of a monster, he thought, and not a wolf like the tag called it. Its hair was slightly coarse, not silky smooth like children’s toys usually were, and a sort of a dark colour; not black but not brown either, just a muddy shade of dark. Its body shape was also rather interesting. It seemed almost disfigured with its back and legs twisted and its snout was long with sharp-looking teeth (which actually weren’t, sharp that is, thankfully). But even those traits weren’t the one Noah objected to. No, that honour belonged to the shining red eyes that seemed to stare into his soul.“Stiles is going to love him.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this [prompt](http://writing-prompt-s.tumblr.com/post/154381588720/you-buy-your-son-a-teddy-bear-unknown-to-you-the) on Tumblr.

”Are you sure?” Noah asked as he stared at the plush Claudia was holding. It was a rather scary-looking thing if he had to describe it with just one word. It was some sort of a monster, he thought, and not a wolf like the tag called it. Its hair was slightly coarse, not silky smooth like children’s toys usually were, and a sort of a dark colour; not black but not brown either, just a muddy shade of dark. Its body shape was also rather interesting. It seemed almost disfigured with its back and legs twisted, and its snout was long with sharp-looking teeth (which actually weren’t, sharp that is, thankfully). But even those traits weren’t the one Noah objected to. No, that honour belonged to the shining red eyes that seemed to stare into his soul and found him wanting.

“Yes!” Claudia chirped. “It’s perfect!”

“Darling, are you absolutely…”

“ _Darling_ ,” she threw the pet name against him and he winced. He bit his tongue not to make another comment as Claudia frowned at him with those beautiful amber eyes he had fallen in love with and was still so weak against. She then grinned brightly again, nearly blinding him. “Stiles is going to _love_ him.”

Him. Not it, him.

Oh Claudia.

Noah nodded as Claudia skipped towards the cashier who looked far too depressed to be working in a children’s toy store. She didn’t even notice and started to chatter to the girl who was helpless against her power of blab and couldn’t get a word edgewise. Claudia didn’t even let the toy go long enough for the girl to check the price.

Alright then.

Noah looked at the discount table and sighed, leaving it behind to calm his lovely but easily excitable wife.

Well, it if turned out that Stiles hated it, at least the toy hadn’t been expensive.

***

Despite Noah’s hopes of being able to bury the toy in the trash can as soon as possible, it turned out that Stiles loved it. His eyes widened in wonder as Claudia handed the ‘wolf’ to him and his grin couldn’t have been brighter. The grabby hands and squeals were cute, though, and Noah discreetly took pictures of his son and wife gushing over the little monster. For some reason, it almost seemed like the toy _belonged_ with Stiles. It didn’t seem as terrifying when his little boy was hugging it and petting its fur, cooing over it.

Stiles named it Peter of all things.

No, Noah had no idea why either but Claudia seemed to find it perfectly reasonable.

Those two…

Noah just took one last picture (Stiles was holding the toy over his head and Claudia pretended to be scared of them from her place on the floor) and called them to eat before the take away got cold. Stiles dragged Peter to the table with them and, weirdly enough, tried to share his curly fries with the toy. Of course it didn’t work, it was a _toy_ , but Stiles was satisfied as he munched on his dinner. When he asked if Stiles wanted to take ‘Peter’ to the kindergarten tomorrow, all he got was a headshake and a look far too serious for a child of his age.

“No,” Stiles announced, and patted ‘Peter’ on the head. “He’d eat them all alive! Except Scott. I like Scott. And maybe Lydia.”

Noah blinked but just inclined his head. Claudia continued to eat her chicken wrap and hum around it, oblivious to her surroundings. He winced when she dipped her fries in vinegar and ate them absentmindedly.

Sure.

When Stiles was done which was quicker than usual – he even managed to finish his whole burger when he usually had trouble eating the whole slice of beef – he scampered to watch the evening cartoons before his bedtime. He cuddled the toy and followed with his eyes how a team of kids saved the world from the evils of the monster of the day. Apparently, the particular monster was a werewolf today. Noah shook his head. He turned to Claudia, about to comment on how taken Stiles was with Peter (fine, _his_ name was Peter) but she was just staring blankly at the wall. When Noah touched her, she startled, blinked and smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry, I must’ve zoned out. What were we talking about?”

Noah frowned.

They hadn’t.

***

Stiles smiled sleepily as Claudia tucked him in. He loved it when mom did it after she told him a story. Her voices were the best. They went all low and high depending on the character she voiced. Dad tried but he was too gruff and somehow he made all the characters sound angry or mad. Mom just did them better. Dad was better at driving, though, so it all worked out.

“Sleep well, my little one,” she whispered. She even pet Peter on the head. “And you, the big bad wolf, protect my dearest while he slumbers and frolics in the fields of dreams.”

“Peter will beat all the monsters!” Stiles exclaimed, and yawned. He totally would. Peter was the best wolf there was.

“Yes, he will,” Claudia said and kissed his forehead. Stiles was a big boy now but kisses were still nice, especially mom’s. Dad’s hugs were great too, so big and warm, just like dad himself. He had gotten one just before mom ushered him to bed. She switched off the lights before she closed the door, and Stiles burrowed deep into his blankets. He gave one last sleepy smile at Peter before the dreams took him away.

***

Stiles saw no nightmares for years to come, not even when his mother passed away, screaming how he was trying to kill her, trying to end her before she ended him.

She was never quite clear who the ‘he’ she was talking about was.

***

The room was dark.

Shadows, twisting and long, writhed around the room under the slivers of moonlight peeking from the curtains slightly opened.

The boy was asleep. His heartbeat was steady and calm, slower than it ever could be during the day. He let out a small sound, almost like a little whine, but instantly settled when a hand with the sharpest of claws slid against his cheek. The boy even nuzzled closer to it, and when he managed to grab the hand in his sleep the claws had already retreated, leaving a very much human hand behind; big and male.

A man with eyes of the coldest winter watched as the boy slept.

“You’ve been missing, uncle,” a voice said – feminine, low and strong – yet the man didn’t even turn around. He had no need to. The voice was instantly recognised and filed away under a label, different from the one it had been under before.

A threat.

“Go away,” he said instead. “You have no place in here.”

“Mother has been looking for you.”

“She has no place here either.”

Another name was categorised, higher on the list than this one.

A hand moved to touch the man, aiming at his shoulder, but it didn’t manage to even brush against him before it was caught in a strong grip. The claws were out and pressing against the flesh pale in the moonlight.

“Leave.” It was no request but a demand.

The woman scoffed.

“You left the family for what? This _kid_? What does he have that the Hales do not?”

The man was quiet but his grip tightened. The woman refused to make a sound but her wrist did. It snapped and the sound reverberated in the otherwise quiet room. The boy frowned in his sleep, shuffled closer to the man and hugged the hand in his grip, pressing it over his beating heart.

The woman gasped, although not in pain. “Does he…? Did he capture…?”

“Leave.”

“ _Uncle_.”

“ _Leave_!”

The woman wrenched her arm away from him. The scowl, if the man had bothered to look at her, was terrifying and ugly as her features twisted and light created chasms deeper than graves on her face. Her hair floated in the air with the non-existent wind.

“Mother will hear about this. She’ll come and end your suffering!” she said, her voice taking a hollow tone as if she was speaking with thousands of currents.

She disappeared with the wind, leaving to the night through the crack in the glass.

The curtains never moved.

The room was quiet again. This time, the boy did not settle with a hand pressing against him and he opened his eyes, frowning sleepily as he took in the room. Nothing was amiss. He turned to the toy wolf still sitting next to him, staring at him with those red, red eyes. Others had called it creepy and his father had tried to throw it away plenty of times. Yet, always, it appeared back into his room before he had time to go look for it.

Although it wasn’t an ‘it’ for Stiles; rather, it was a ‘he’. _He_ was the one who guarded his sleep, saved him from dreaming of his mother’s insanity and his father’s grief, of being bullied and put down; of how his brother from another mother had fallen for a girl and left him behind, unintentional or not; of how the nights were often long and empty with his dad working on long shifts at the station.

Of how, sometimes, it was only _he_ who kept Stiles company for days on end.

He wasn’t lonely.

Softly, Stiles smiled and pressed a kiss on the wolf’s forehead.

“I love you, Peter,” he whispered and fell back into the land of wonders, trusting the wolf to have his back.

Blood red eyes watched as the boy’s breathing and heartbeat grew slow again.

The wolf growled low as the shadows started dancing again and formed a figure of all-encompassing darkness and cruelty. Peter shook off the ratty, worn form of his and the shadows stared as in its stead stood a hulking monstrosity with its sharp teeth bared and the same shining red eyes his boy so loved.

He attacked. The shadows bled black until they disintegrated in the glow of the moon.

_Mine._

**Author's Note:**

> My hand slipped. Again. And I have ideas. This is bad.


End file.
